Project Sputnik Versus Microsoft

Dell is toying with the idea of loading up Ubuntu onto an XPS 13 laptop to create a developer environment in which people can create Web and mobile apps. It's called Project Sputnik. Should Microsoft be worried? My thinking is no.

Here's a tidbit from the Crazy Engineers blog where the product is discussed:

Developers rarely agree with each other's tastes and likes, so they came up with a concept of "developer profiles," first of them being for Android, Ruby and JavaScript. The Profile tool will pull these developers profiles stored in a github repository, whereas the Cloud tool for DevOps will connect the laptop to a cloud back end.

It seems to me that any developers worth their salt would be creating a personal environment on their own, with or without Ubuntu, and probably on a more robust and powerful desktop computer with multiple big monitors. But I'm not doing any dev work but developers out there may possibly prefer squinting at a little laptop with a 13-inch screen. Maybe it's fashionable.

Whatever the case, the Dell initiative with Ubuntu just adds more ammunition to my argument that Microsoft is about to follow Apple's lead and shift its emphasis to its own retail stores where it doesn't have to worry about whom it considers traitors.

Really? Whose expectations? This project was first announced in May and was quickly forgotten. Dell has been toying with Linux distros forever to no avail. The article points to a Barton's Blog post that discusses the beta program and provides a link for those interested. (The Dell blogger is Barton George, a 15-year Sun Microsystems veteran. His title at Dell is "Dell's Cloud Computing Group evangelist." Sometime before that, he was with Sony when it was trying to sell a UNIX workstation.)

Here's the giveaway paragraph:

The new page points you to where you can buy an XPS 13 (unfortunately still pre-loaded with Windows at this time), where you can get the image to load, where you can offer suggestions, read about people's experiences and where you can sign up for a beta unit.

So let me get this straight. To get into this program, I have to buy a regular Windows XPS machine, then Dell will give me an image to load, and I'm suddenly running the Linux dev machine? So the company doesn't even spiff up the XPS machine with a Sputnik logo or anything? Gee, guys, don't go overboard here. The company's efforts lack sincerity.

Oh wait, there's more. Apparently, the company will select a few lucky winners to receive a discounted XPS with the software preloaded. I guess that's a step in the right direction.

Before I go on complaining about the whole thing, let me cut through the fog. This project is a cloud scam. It's to get developers on board with using the cloud more. Most tend to use the 10 terabytes they have on their desktop and this apparently sucks. They should use the slower, more costly cloud for all their computing needs.

It is called Project Sputnik, implying some sort of seminal moment in time, but it should be named Project Vanguard, the American response to Sputnik. The first launch went exactly four feet off the ground and exploded, much like this will.

John Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the host of the weekly TV video podcast CrankyGeeks. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, Forbes Digital, PC World, Barrons, MacUser, PC/Computing, Smart Business and other magazines and newspapers. Former editor and consulting editor for Infoworld. Has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, Vancouver Sun. Was on the start-up team for CNet TV as well as ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) was host of Silicon...
More »